recorders (boring details for most people)
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In a message dated 10/6/03 6:48:19 PM, Dnowens@... writes:
<< I was wondering if there is
somewhere I could get her a better recorder if she decides she wants one. Are
they
all plastic or are some wood? Do they come in different sizes? I hope someone
knows. Sandra? >>
Recorders have two sizes very easy to come by, and four fairly easy, and two
or three more obscure sizes in the teensy and gigantic range that the fanatics
might buy.
Easy set:
Soprano (probably the one you got--the very bottom note is "C" so they call
them "C" recorders)
Alto (called "Treble" in England) and is an "F" recorder (bottom note "F")
If she ends up playing by ear mostly, she can switch back and forth between
them without regard, just finding a key that's good (and easy for her) for the
people she's playing or singing with.
If she learns to play it reading music, she'll need to pick one or the other
and stick with it until she feels confident enough to learn a second set of
names for the same fingerings.
Both instruments work the same way, but what's a C on the alto is a G on the
soprano (finger-wise).
They're both "C instruments" in the larger scheme of life, meaning that when
there's a C on "piano music" that's the same C that's called C on a recorder.
(Sorry to touch on one of life's biggest mysteries here, but there are some
"band instruments" which were pitched and labelled in ways that should have
been prevented in the beginning, so that a clarinet's Bflat is a piano's C.
Never mind that! Doesn't apply to recorders.)
So If someone asks if a recorder is a C instrument, the answer is yes.
Then within that truth, every other size is "an F recorder" which has nothing
to do with the piano or "real C."
They hands. Some have a couple of keys to help with the reach.
By the time she's playing with groups (if that were to happen) they can tell
her all about the other sizes; she'll see other people's.
When you get ready to buy another one, go to a music store in person if you
can, or e-mail me and I'll help you find a mailorder source.
A cheap wooden one is not better than a good plastic one.
An expensive wooden one if out of most people's price range.
Sandra
<< I was wondering if there is
somewhere I could get her a better recorder if she decides she wants one. Are
they
all plastic or are some wood? Do they come in different sizes? I hope someone
knows. Sandra? >>
Recorders have two sizes very easy to come by, and four fairly easy, and two
or three more obscure sizes in the teensy and gigantic range that the fanatics
might buy.
Easy set:
Soprano (probably the one you got--the very bottom note is "C" so they call
them "C" recorders)
Alto (called "Treble" in England) and is an "F" recorder (bottom note "F")
If she ends up playing by ear mostly, she can switch back and forth between
them without regard, just finding a key that's good (and easy for her) for the
people she's playing or singing with.
If she learns to play it reading music, she'll need to pick one or the other
and stick with it until she feels confident enough to learn a second set of
names for the same fingerings.
Both instruments work the same way, but what's a C on the alto is a G on the
soprano (finger-wise).
They're both "C instruments" in the larger scheme of life, meaning that when
there's a C on "piano music" that's the same C that's called C on a recorder.
(Sorry to touch on one of life's biggest mysteries here, but there are some
"band instruments" which were pitched and labelled in ways that should have
been prevented in the beginning, so that a clarinet's Bflat is a piano's C.
Never mind that! Doesn't apply to recorders.)
So If someone asks if a recorder is a C instrument, the answer is yes.
Then within that truth, every other size is "an F recorder" which has nothing
to do with the piano or "real C."
They hands. Some have a couple of keys to help with the reach.
By the time she's playing with groups (if that were to happen) they can tell
her all about the other sizes; she'll see other people's.
When you get ready to buy another one, go to a music store in person if you
can, or e-mail me and I'll help you find a mailorder source.
A cheap wooden one is not better than a good plastic one.
An expensive wooden one if out of most people's price range.
Sandra